Pickup trucks are widely used by people in the construction industry. Very often the length of the load is longer than the length of the cargo space in the pickup truck. In such cases, the front end of the load is often positioned over the cab for transport. To protect the top of the cab from the load and to secure the load in place, various types of racks or carriers have been developed. The carriers are typically mounted to the four corners of the sidewalls of the cargo area of the pickup truck. Four corner posts extend upwardly from the corners with horizontal brace members extending between the posts. The uppermost brace member connecting the two forward corner posts is often used to support loads extending up over the cab. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,170 entitled Demountable Carrier Rack Assembly for Pickup Truck, Issued to Ruben N. Raya on Sept. 20, 1983.
Although conventional racks are quite useful and have found widespread acceptance, they are not without shortcomings. Many are complex in structure, thus increasing their cost. They often create multiple obstructions in and around the cargo area, which hinder other uses of the truck. Also, they are generally rather unsightly--not aesthetically pleasing in design.